Spring forming and quenching machine



Nov, 26, 1935. J. F. BEANS SPRING FORMING AND QUENCHING MACHINE Filed March 20, 1934 2 Sheets-Sheet l m w M M Nov. 26, 1935. J. F. BEANS SPRING FORMING AND QUENCHING MACHINE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 20, 1934 I Jab fibeaizs Patented Nov. 26, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE SPRING FORMING AND QUENCHING MACHINE Application March 20,

4 Claims.

The invention relates to improvements in machines for forming and quenching the leaves of springs such as are used upon automobiles and similar vehicles, and more particularly to a ma- 5 chine of this character operated by fluid controlled cylinders.

In manufacturing springs of the character referred to, each spring is formed of a plurality of leaves, each of which is formed from a flat bar of steel which is then bent to a predetermined curvature and hardened to retain the exact curvature.

The several leaves forming a complete spring must be bent exactly and uniformly and all of the leaves of the spring must be uniformly and evenly hardened in order that they retain the proper shape in the finished spring.

The objects of the present improvement are to provide a machine for exactly and uniformly ho-t forming the leaves of a spring and for immediately quenching the hot formed leaves while they remain clamped in the forming mechanism so as to quickly and uniformly harden the leaves in order that they will retain the desired form.

Another object is to provide a spring forming and tempering machine, each unit of which is adapted to form and temper one leaf at a time, the forming mechanism comprising vertically movable upper and lower forming jaws and fluid operated cylinders adapted to simultaneously separate the jaws and raise them out of a quenching tank and to close the jaws and lower them into the quenching tank.

Another object of the improvement is to pro vide a machine of the character referred to in which a lifting cylinder is provided for raising and lowering a movable frame upon which the upper jaw is carried, forming cylinders being carried by said movable frame, the lower jaw being suspended from said forming cylinders so that they will vertically move the lower jawrelative to the upper jaw.

A still further object is to provide a machine of the character referred to having a plurality of pairs of forming jaws, fluid operated cylinders for opening and closing each pair of jaws and moving them into and out of a quenching tank, and means for coordinating the operation of said cylinders so that when one pair of jaws is closed and lowered into the tank, an adjacent pair of jaws will be simultaneously raised from the tank and opened.

The above, together with other objects which may be hereinafter pointed out or which will be evident from the accompanying drawings and 1934, Serial No. 716,515

following description, may be attained by constructing the improved spring forming and quenching machine in the manner illustrated in the drawings, in which Figure l is a vertical sectional elevation of a 5 spring forming machine embodying the invention and comprising two units, the forming jaws of one unit being shown in closed or clamped position within the quenching tank and the jaws of the other unit being shown in the raised 10 and open position;

Fig. 2, a view similar to Fig. 1, showing the forming jaws of the front unit just at the instant the jaws have closed upon a spring leaf preparatory to being lowered into the quench- 15 ing tank, and the jaws of the rear unit opening and starting to rise from the quenching tank;

Fig. 3, a transverse section taken as on the line 3-3, Fig. 1;

Fig. 4, a transverse section through one of the 20 upright channel guides and the corresponding sliding guide block of the upper jaw, taken on the line 4-4 Fig. l; and

Fig. 5, a similar section of the upright channel guide and the sliding guide block of the lower 25 forming jaw, taken on the line 5--5, Fig. 1.

Similar numerals refer to similar parts throughout the drawings.

In the practical application of the invention, it has been found advantageous to arrange a plurality of the forming units in connection with a quenching tank, and in position to be successively operated by one workman, as each spring leaf should be left in the quenching bath a sufiicient time to be properly cooled and tempered before being removed from the forming jaws. Alth ugh any desired number of forming units may thus be located together in a single machine, for the purpose of illustration, a 0 machine comprising two forming units is illustrated and described.

The improved machine includes a quenching tank indicated generally at It, adapted to rest upon the floor and provided at either or both 45 ends with means for admitting oil or other suitable quenching liquid to the tank, such as the inlet pipe H which may be connected to any suitable supply of oil or the like, and means for providing for a maximum liquid level in the tank, 5

such as the overflow pipe l2 which extends upward through the bottom of the tank, the upper open end thereof being at the maximum liquid level desired While the lower open end of the overflow pipe may communicate with any suitable {it means for receiving the overflow of liquid from the tank.

Each unit of the machine comprises a spaced pair of upright channel members l3, the lower ends of which are supported upon the bottom of the tank I and the upper ends preferably connected as by the crossbar l4. Angular braces i5 may be provided between the upper portions of the channel uprights l3 and the crossbar l4.

A vertically slidable frame is provided in each unit of the machine, said frame including the upper horizontal bar I E and the horizontal channel member I! spaced below the same and suspended therefrom as by the tie rods l8. This sliding frame is adapted to be vertically moved by means of the lifting cylinder I9, the upper end of which is connected to the underside of the crossbar l4, as shown in Fig. 1.

The piston rod 252' of the lifting cylinder may be provided at its lower end with a fork 2| which receives the upper bar it of the sliding frame and is connected thereto as by the pin 22. Each end of the channel member I! is connected, as by the bolts 23, to a horizontal flange 24 formed at the lower end of a guide block 25 slidably mounted in the corresponding channel guide l3. Each of these guide blocks is provided with a squared groove 2E to slidably receive the sliding guide bar 2? which will be later described.

The upper forming jaw is carried by the channel member I? and is preferably a flexible member such as the strap 23 of iron or the like. This flexible upper jaw is suspended below the horizontal channel member i] as by the curved leaf springs 29 connected at their upper ends to the channel member i'i as by bolts 30 and provided at their lower ends with eyes 3| to which the ends of the strap 28 may be attached.

The forming cylinders 32 are mounted upon the upper surface of the horizontal channel member ii, one of these cylinders being preferably located near each end thereof. The piston rod 33 of each of the forming cylinders extends upward therefrom and has a crosshead 34 fixed to its upper end. Bolts 35 are located through opposite ends of this crosshead and the lower ends of these bolts are welded or otherwise connected to the upper ends of the depending strap links 35 which hang downward upon opposite sides of the cylinder 32 and may be located through apertures 3? formed near the edge portions of the channel l1.

These strap links support the lower jaw which may include the form cradle 38 having the horihol -member I! and zontal base portion 33 at its lower edge to which the lower ends of the strap links are connected as by the screws 48. This cradle is adapted to be slidably mounted upon the channel guides i3 and for this purpose, guide blocks 25a may be slidably mounted in the channel guides I3 and connected to the ends of the cradle 38 as by the bolts 23a which are located through the end portions of the cradle and through the flanges 24a of the guide blocks 25a.

The sliding guide bars 2'! are carried by the guide blocks 25a, the lower end portions of said guide bars being preferably received in the grooves 26a of the guide blocks 25a and connected thereto as by the screws 21a which may be counter-sunk in the bar 21 as shown in Fig. 5. As above stated, these sliding guide bars are slid- :ably received in the grooves 26 ,of the guide blocks 25 upon the horizontalchannel member i l. With this construction, the horizontal chanthe cradle 38 are always maintained in parallel relation to each other as they are slidably moved in the channel guides l3.

The form plate 4! may be attached to the cradle as by the bolts 42 and is provided at its upper edge with the substantially arcuate flange 43 through which are located the threaded studs 44 which may beadjusted to the curvature of the pattern 455 which is an accurately formed steel bar or strap curved exactly to the curvature desired to be produced in the spring leaf to be formed.

The end studs and one or more intermediate studs may have T-heads, as indicated at 44a, to hold the spring pattern rigidly against turning or tilting and in order to attach the pattern, the ends thereof may be bent around the T- heads of the end bolts, as indicated at 46. A pin 47 may be provided at the center of the pattern to be received in the usual central aperture in the spring leaf blank indicated at 48 in order to properly position the blank longitudinally upon the pattern. For the purpose of positio ing the blank transversely upon the pattern, stop lugs 59 may be mounted at the upper edge of the cradle or form plate to contact with the rear edge of the blank when the same is placed upon the pattern.

For the purpose of operating the cylinders, fluid from any suitable source of fluid supply is admitted through the pipe 59. This pipe communicates with the valves 5! and-52 which are connected as by the pipes 53 and 54 respectively, with the lower ends of the lifting cylinders IQ of the front and rear units respectively, as viewed in Figs. 1 and 2. A branch pipe 55 communicates with the fluid inlet pipe 5%) and leads to the valves 55 and 5'! which communicate with the forming cylinders 32 of the front and rear units respectively, as viewed in Figs. 1 and 2.

For this purpose a pipe 58 leads from the valve 56 in a substantially horizontal position to a point at one side of the machine where it is connected to one end of a flexible hose 59, the other end of which is connected to a pipe communicating with an intermediate portion of a pipe 6! mounted upon the top of the horizontal channel member ll of the front unit and communicating with the lower ends of both of the forming cylinders 32 of said unit.

A similar arrangement is provided for the rear unit, a pipe 58a leading from the valve 51 to a point at one side of the machine where it is connected, as by the flexible hose 59a.with a pipe 63a which communicates with an intermediate portion of the pipe eta which leads to the lower ends of the forming cylinders 32 of the rear unit.

Where air is to be used in the cylinders, each of the valves 5!, 52, 55, and 51 may be provided with an exhaust aperture 62 adapted to permit the air to exhaust into the atmosphere when the valve is in the closed position, that is, when communication between the air supply pipe 50 and the respective cylinder is cut off by'the operation of the valve. This exhaust opening, however, is closed by the movement of the valve to open position to admit air from the pipe 50 to the respective cylinder. As any well known form of valve of this type may be used, it is not, thought necessary to illustrate the valves in detail. I

In order that the valves controlling the lifting cylinder and forming cylinders of adult may be operatedsimultaneously, so that the forming jaws will be opened as they are raised from the quenching tank and closed as they are lowered into the tank, means is provided for simultaneously operating the upper and lower valve of each unit reversely. For this purpose the valves and 56 of the front unit are connected by a link 63 and the valves 52 and 51 of the rear unit are similarly connected by a link 63a. Thus, it will be seen that as either link is pushed upward, the upper valve will be moved to the open position, admitting fluid to the lifting cylinder and the lower valve will be moved to the closed or exhaust position, exhausting fluid from the forming cylinders.

It is desirable to co-ordinate the operation of the valves of the different units and for this purpose means may be provided for simultaneously moving the links 63 and 63a in opposite directions. For this purpose a lever 64 may be provided, vfulcrumed intermediate its ends as at 65 upon any suitable stationary portion of the machine, such as the bracket 66 mounted upon the crossbar 61 fixed to the channel guides [3.

This lever is pivotally connected on opposite sides of the fulcrum to the lower ends of the links 63 and 6341, as indicated at 68 and 69, respectiver 1y. With this construction, as the forming jaws of one unit are closed and lowered into the quenching tank, the forming jaws of the adjacent unit are raised from the quenching tank and opened.

In the operation of the machine to form and quench the spring leaves, assuming the parts to be in the position shown in Fig. 1, the jaws of the front unit, as viewed in that figure, are in raised and open position and the jaws of the rear unit are in closed and lowered position, holding a newly formed spring leaf therebetween while the same is quenched in the tank.

The operator, having first removed the formed spring leaf from the open jaws of the front unit, takes a hot spring leaf blank from the furnace and places it upon the lower jaw in the position shown at 48 in Fig. 1. The lever 64 is then moved from the position shown in Fig. l to that shown in Fig. 2, reversing the positions of the valves controlling the lifting and forming cylinders of both units. The jaws of the front unit are closed by the operation of the corresponding forming cylinders 32, raising the lower jaw toward the descending upper jaw, the flexible strap 28, which is also provided with a central aperture to receive the pin 41, clamping the hot spring leaf blank tightly upon the spring leaf pattern of the lower jaw, as shown in Fig. 2. The corresponding lifting cylinder will continue to lower the closed jaws into the quenching tank, holding the hot formed spring leaf to the exact curvature required while the same is quenched in the tank.

Simultaneous with this closing and lowering of the jaws of the front unit, the forming cylinders of the rear unit will be operated to permit the lower jaw thereof to descend away from the upper jaw, while at the same time the correspond- 5 ing lifting cylinder will cause the upper jaw to rise, as shown in Fig. 2, and this operation will be continued until both jaws are in the fully raised and open position, at which time the formed and quenched spring leaf may be removed and a new hot blank placed in position as above described.

I claim:

1. A spring forming and quenching machine including a quenching tank, a frame including upright guides extending into said tank, an upper forming jaw slidable upon said guides, a fluid cylinder upon said frame operatively connected to said upper jaw, a fluid cylinder upon said upper jaw, a lower forming jaw slidable upon said guides and operatively connected to the last named fluid cylinder, and means for simultaneously operating said fluid cylinders in reverse directions.

2. A spring forming and quenching machine including a quenching tank, a frame including upright guides extending into said tank, an upper forming jaw slidable upon said guides, a fluid cylinder upon said frame operatively connected to said upper jaw, a fluid cylinder upon-said upper jaw, a lower forming jaw slidable upon said guides and operatively connected to the last named fluid cylinder, a valve for controlling each fluid cylinder, and means for simultaneously operating said valves reversely.

3. A spring forming and quenching machine including a quenching tank, a frame including upright channel guides extending into said tank, an upper forming jaw having guide blocks slidable in said channel guides and provided with guide grooves, means for slidably moving the upper jaw, a lower forming jaw having guide blocks slidable in said channel guides, means for slidably moving the lower jaw relative to the upper jaw, and guide rods carried by the guide blocks of 4.5 the lower jaw and received in said guide grooves.

4. A spring forming and quenching machine including a quenching tank, a frame including upright channel guides extending into said tank, an upper forming jaw having guide blocks slidable in said channel guides, means for slidably moving the upper jaw, a lower forming jaw having guide blocks slidable in the channel guides, means for slidably moving the lower jaw relative to the upper jaw, and guide rods carried by the guide blocks of one jaw and received in grooves in the guide blocks of the other jaw.

JOHN F. BEANS. 

